A Different Kind of Experiment
by Nordryd
Summary: The Friendship Games are over, & the new Twilight has joined the group. Sunset & her friends have helped to make Twilight's transition smoother. As time goes by, Sunset notices Twilight paying more attention to her than anyone else. Lately, Twilight has been asking Sunset for assistance with an experiment. Were these just experiments… or were they for something else entirely?


The final period of classes were over for the day, and the halls of CHS were filled with students anxious to get on with their day. While some students were anxious to get home and relax, others were preparing for extracurricular activities. Sunset Shimmer was among the latter.

The lives of the Sunset and her friends got a lot more interesting ever since the Friendship Games. Not only was their magic changing, but they had a new friend… this world's Twilight Sparkle, newly transferred to CHS from Crystal Prep.

Their first encounter with Twilight wasn't exactly ideal. A weird pendant she invented began absorbing the magic from all of them, and ended with her unleashing it all at once, corrupting her in the process. Yeah, not exactly the way you want to meet a new friend, right?

Sunset and her friends were making every effort to ensure Twilight's transition to CHS was a smooth one. Inviting her to band practices, giving her a place to sit at lunch, asking for her company at social gatherings, and even arranging to have her own lab at CHS, just like what she had at Crystal Prep. Sunset could tell Twilight was shy, but could also see a significantly happier girl than when she first met her. Those Crystal Prep students weren't doing much to strengthen her self-esteem at all. Now that she was in a less toxic environment, she was starting to come out of her shell, and Sunset couldn't be happier.

Sunset walked down the hall to where Twilight's new lab was located. Per Twilight's request, Sunset was going to help her with some experiments. She wouldn't say why, but she was more than happy to oblige. Twilight did ask Sunset to bring her guitar though. It didn't take a genius to surmise what Twilight probably wanted to do.

She approached the door, and gave it a good knock with her knuckle.

"Sunset?" a familiar voice inside said.

"Yep," Sunset replied.

"Come on in!" Twilight called out.

Sunset opened the door, and was impressed with what she saw. Lots of crazy gadgets, lab equipment, a bookshelf packed to the brim with textbooks and binders, a desk on either side of the room, flanking the door, with a desktop computer on one and a laptop on the other. Above the laptop desk was a corkboard loaded with pictures and red ropes connecting them all. You'd think she's been using this lab for years.

"Thank you so much for coming, Sunset," Twilight said.

"No problem," Sunset said. "So what's this for?"

"Well, I've been extremely intrigued by this… _magic_ ," Twilight said. "I know you said I shouldn't be messing with what I don't understand, but I can't help it! I need to understand what this is. It's been keeping me up at night."

"You're not the only one," Sunset said. "I've been trying to figure this stuff out since it's been happening."

"Have you had any luck?" Twilight asked, getting a notebook out and readying her pencil.

"Well… no," Sunset said. "I _tried_ doing some experiments one time with each of the girls, but it was a disaster. No solid results, but plenty of bruises."

"Bruises?" Twilight asked, writing something down in her notebook, like a doctor speaking to a patient.

"You'd be surprised. With Fluttershy, butterflies flew everywhere. Applejack, apples fell on me. Rarity, floating up and snagging me with a wire. Pinkie Pie, launching surprisingly tough and electric balloons. And Rainbow Dash, rainbow paint being blasted in my face."

"Hmm… interesting," Twilight murmured, writing notes down.

Sunset giggled as she watched Twilight jot stuff down. It was strangely cute when she was studying.

"I'm not sure what you expect to get out of that," Sunset said. "It's about as random as it gets."

"When it comes to something like this, _every_ detail counts," Twilight said. "Did you do tests on yourself?"

"It was kind of impossible with the setup I had," Sunset said.

"You brought your guitar, right?" Twilight asked.

"Got it right here," Sunset said, showing her the case. "Do you want to hook me up to something and see what happens?"

"Well, not yet," Twilight said. "I want to just make observations by eye. Get an idea of the constants and variables, y'know?"

"Sounds like a plan," Sunset said, putting her guitar case down and opening it up. She pulled out a turquoise electric guitar, and pulled up a chair. She put the strap around her as she sat down and opened up the tuning application on her phone. The room was silent except for the rising and falling pitches of her guitar strings as she turned the pegs to tune them.

Every time Sunset glanced at her phone to check the guitar string's pitch, she would see, out of her peripheral vision, Twilight writing things down in her notebook. The epitome of focus. Or at least… it seemed that way. While tuning the D-string, she caught Twilight looking, not at her notebook, but at _her_. At first, Sunset figured she was watching to see if any hint of magic appeared, or to even see how a guitar is tuned. That was until she noticed a smile on Twilight's face. And not the scientist kind of smile when they just had an epiphany, it was a smile of admiration. Was Twilight being distracted? By _her_?

Sunset decided to do her own test, and looked straight at Twilight. Upon doing so, Twilight immediately darted her gaze away, looking back down at her notebook and writing more things down. Sunset could barely make out a slight blush on her violet face. It was just like catching a shy guy checking a girl out. Was Twilight…?

No… it couldn't have been…

Sunset shook her head and finished tuning the high E-string.

"All tuned," Sunset said. "What do you want me to do now?"

It took a moment, but eventually Twilight turned her chair towards Sunset, crossing her legs and putting her notebook on her knee.

"Um… just play something that'll make the magic manifest, and I'll write down what I see," Twilight said.

Sunset couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at Twilight's suddenly bashful tone. And was she still blushing?

Sunset shrugged, paying no mind to it. She had to remember this Twilight was more soft-spoken than Princess Twilight.

She stood up, and began playing. As she strummed her guitar, she took glances at Twilight to see if she was writing down something. When she wrote something down, it meant something of note was happening.

It didn't take long before a familiar feeling began coursing through Sunset's body. A faint orange aura glimmered around her. With the next chord, her pony ears appeared, and with the next one, the ponytail.

She kept playing her guitar as she took another glance at Twilight. Surely after ponying-up, she would've been writing something down. But she wasn't. Her gaze was firmly fixated on Sunset. Her mouth hung slightly open, and her eyes were filled with wonder.

The song went on for another thirty seconds, and Twilight's eyes never faltered. She stopped writing notes ever since Sunset ponied-up. Was she just watching now?

Sunset struck the last chord, and in the song's wake, her pony features disappeared.

"How was that?" Sunset asked.

"Huh?" Twilight cooed. "Oh!" She blinked and shook her head, snapping out of her trance. "Um… I-I don't know…"

"What do you mean?" Sunset asked.

Twilight bit her lip, looking away from Sunset, making her raise an eyebrow.

"You saw what happened, right?" Sunset asked.

"Yeah, I did," Twilight said.

It was silent in the room for a moment as Sunset allowed Twilight to collect her thoughts. She strummed some chords to fill the silence. Five minutes passed, and Twilight hadn't moved at all. She's been writing stuff down, but not saying a single word.

"Twilight, are you okay?" Sunset asked.

"Hmm?" Twilight murmured. "Oh, yeah. Just thinking."

"Aren't you always?" Sunset remarked.

Twilight giggled a little. "Yeah…"

"Is this all you need from me today?" Sunset asked.

"Do you have somewhere else to be?" Twilight asked.

Sunset shook her head. "I was just asking. I can stay for as long as you need me."

"Thanks, Sunset," Twilight said, smiling. "Um… can I say something?"

"Sure," Sunset said.

"Y-You're really good at guitar," Twilight said.

Sunset was a little surprised by the sudden compliment, but was flattered nonetheless.

"Thanks. I try," Sunset said, smiling.

A big smile grew on Twilight's slowly reddening face.

"So what kind of observations did you make?" Sunset asked.

Twilight got her pencil out. "Well, I'm trying to figure out why…"

* * *

 _THE NEXT DAY_

Back in Twilight's lab, Sunset did another guitar solo so Twilight could make more observations. This time, Sunset saw Twilight writing things down the whole time, even after she ponied-up.

Sunset struck the last chord, and her pony features disappeared once again.

"Get anything this time?" Sunset asked.

"I'm still a little puzzled as to why you don't transform at the beginning of the song," Twilight said.

" _I'm_ curious as to why it's different instruments for each of us," Sunset said.

"Or maybe it's not," Twilight said. "Can you bring in another instrument?"

Sunset rubbed her neck. "Does a microphone count? The only other thing I can really do is sing."

"Works for me," Twilight said.

"Maybe you could get some of the other girls in here too," Sunset said.

Twilight bit her lip. "Do you not like being here?"

"Oh no, nothing like that," Sunset said. "I'm just saying it might be better to get a better understanding of this."

Twilight pursed her lips. "I guess…"

Sunset rose an eyebrow at Twilight's somber tone. "Something wrong?"

Twilight looked up at Sunset, and she appeared to light up upon making eye contact. Sunset offered a friendly smile, making Twilight blush and twirl her hair.

"N-Nothing's wrong," Twilight said.

Sunset couldn't help but wonder about Twilight's behavior. Twirling her hair… blushing… smiling…

"Something on your mind?" Sunset asked with a smirk.

Twilight bit her lip, and twirled her hair even more. "Um… some things…"

Sunset rose an eyebrow. "Some _one_ on your mind?"

Twilight's face flushed bright red. She said nothing, save for a whimper as she looked away.

Sunset giggled. "I'm sorry, Twilight. It's just fun to tease sometimes, y'know?"

Twilight managed a small smile. "It's fine. I guess I'm still getting used to things."

"Like friends?" Sunset said.

Twilight nodded. "Yeah."

"I know how you feel," Sunset said, placing her hand on Twilight's shoulder. "But you're not alone. You, me, and the rest of the girls get to learn together, and we're always here for you."

Twilight cracked a small smile. "Thanks, Sunset."

* * *

 _THE NEXT DAY_

"Thank you so much for all your help this week, Sunset," Twilight said, writing down her observations after watching Sunset play guitar again.

"No problem," Sunset said. "Is that all today?"

"Actually… no," Twilight said. "C-Can I talk to you about something, Sunset? Something… personal?"

"Yeah, of course," Sunset said, pulling up a chair. "What's on your mind?"

Twilight began twirling her hair. "So… yesterday when you asked me if I was thinking about… some _one_ …"

"Yes?" Sunset coaxed.

"Well… I _was_ thinking about someone," Twilight said.

Sunset's eyes went wide. "Oh?"

Twilight's face flushed bright red. "Y-Yeah. You see… I like them a lot. I've liked them for a while now, ever since I came to CHS. The only problem is… I don't know how to tell them. I guess I'm just nervous."

"Are they a friend?" Sunset asked.

Twilight played with her skirt, and nodded. "What if I tell them, and they don't like me back? Will I lose them? Will things be weird between us? I'm still new to friendship, and I just don't know how to tell them, or if I should even say anything at all."

"I can understand being unsure about your feelings," Sunset said. "Do you want to know how to ask them?"

Twilight blushed and nodded. "I just can't stand not knowing anymore. I've tried spotting the signs to see if they do like me back or not. Doing all the research I can, and trying to spot them when we spend time together. It hasn't worked at all. I haven't been able to link anything to my research, and it's killing me."

"Twilight, don't overthink it," Sunset said. "I know it hurts to not know, especially for someone you know. But I can tell you this… I don't think you have to worry about telling them you have a crush."

Twilight rose an eyebrow. "What do you mean? If I don't tell them, how will they know for sure? It just doesn't make any se—"

Sunset used her finger and placed them over Twilight's lips to silence her. Her eyes went wide as they looked back at her.

"You talk too much," Sunset said, moving her finger and planting a light kiss on Twilight's lips.

It wasn't a big kiss or anything. Just a brief meeting of the lips, but it was enough to leave Twilight completely dumbfounded.

"Don't worry about it, because she already knows," Sunset said, giving her a wink.

Twilight slowly brought her hand up to touch her own lips. Her violet eyes were wide with shock and awe.

"H-How?" Twilight stammered. "How did you know?"

"Twilight, I think if you really wanted to figure how our magic works, you would've conducted experiments on _all_ of us, and not just me," Sunset said.

Twilight's face flushed a bright red as she twirled her hair.

"Can I ask _why_ you like me though?" Sunset asked.

Twilight began playing with her skirt as a big smile grew on her face.

"How could I not? You're just… amazing. Smart, kind, talented, and you have such amazing and fiery hair, big turquoise eyes, and…" Twilight trailed off. "Oh gosh… listen to me…"

"You're fine," Sunset said. "You… you really think about me like that?"

Twilight nodded. "Ever since the Friendship Games. But… I understand if you don't like me back…"

"Twilight, if I didn't like you, would I have kissed you just now?" Sunset said.

Twilight's eyes went wide, and a huge smile appeared on her face.

"You _do_ like me?" Twilight said.

"Of course," Sunset said, feeling her own face heat up a little. "You're only the smartest, brightest, cutest girl I know. How could I not like you?"

Twilight's smile never faltered. She made eye contact with Sunset, and immediately looked away again. Sunset could only giggle. Her shyness was just too cute.

"Is this why you wanted my help?" Sunset asked.

Twilight pursed her lips. "Y-Yeah. I… I just love it when you pony-up. It's… breathtaking."

Sunset smiled, blushing a little herself. She took Twilight's hand, squeezing it.

"Well, this doesn't have to stop, y'know? I can help you figure out how the magic works. Or… we could just spend time together. You have friends now, but maybe I could be something more?" Sunset said.

Twilight's eyes went wide. "Sunset… a-are you asking me…?"

Sunset sandwiched Twilight's hand in between hers. "Twilight… do you want to go out with me?"

A huge smile grew on Twilight's face. Her eyes seemed to glimmer as tears pooled up.

"Sunset… I… I'd love to," she said, choking up.

Sunset's heart soared as she brought Twilight up to stand in front of her.

"Here," Sunset said, taking Twilight's glasses off to dry her tears. Twilight shuddered at her touch as she wiped her cheeks. Her smile never waned.

"You have such beautiful eyes, Twilight," Sunset said.

"R-Really?" Twilight cooed.

Sunset nodded, putting Twilight's glasses back on for her. She pulled her into her embrace, wrapping her arms around her waist. Twilight wrapped her arms around Sunset's neck, pulling her closer. Sunset smiled, and leaned in to give her a passionate kiss. Twilight's hands moved to cup her face as their lips molded together.

Twilight's lips felt amazing. Sweet, soft, yet shy at the same time. Sunset led the kiss, using her lips to encourage Twilight. Slowly, Twilight relaxed, melting in Sunset's arms. Small moans came from Twilight with each movement of their lips. Sunset couldn't stop herself from moaning as well. Twilight's whimpering only got louder when Sunset began massaging her waist. Sunset reached up to Twilight's bun, and undid her hair, letting it flow. Twilight put up no fight. She was completely at Sunset's mercy. Her long hair fell behind her, filling the air with the scent of lavender. Twilight began brushing Sunset's hair in return. The sensation was electrifying.

As they kissed, Sunset felt a familiar sensation stir within her. Much like when she played music. As the magic within her manifested, she felt her lips tingle, eliciting a moan from Twilight.

Suddenly, Twilight broke the kiss. Sunset was caught a bit off guard, and was surprised to see that Twilight looked a little different. Pony ears. Wings. Ponytail. She ponied up… from their kiss.

"Wh-Wha… what is this?" Twilight asked, looking at her new features.

Sunset giggled, using her hand to face Twilight toward her again.

"Well," she said, scratching behind Twilight's new pony ear, "I guess we'll have to do some more experimenting, won't we?"

Twilight shuddered as Sunset scratched behind her ear. She returned the favor by cupping Sunset's face.

"I guess we will," Twilight said, blushing.

"Want to start now?" Sunset said, bringing her lips just centimeters away from Twilight's.

Twilight said nothing, closing the gap between their lips, making Sunset moan into her mouth. Sunset brought her hands down to her waist, and used one to caress her new wings, making her whimper. Magic danced in between their lips, energizing and invigorating them both.

Why didn't Sunset kiss Twilight sooner?

Either way, Sunset couldn't wait to experiment more with Twilight. Ponying up while kissing? Best science project… _ever_.

* * *

 **This, like all my non-Coppermane oneshots, was written totally impromptu. Sorry if it's a little scattered. I'll be honest, I feel like this oneshot is a little weaker than my other ones. This is pretty much unrevised. I wrote this out in about three hours, and I'm just going with it. At first glance, I feel like it's a bit weak, but I'll let you all be the judge.**

 **Thanks for reading! Peace out.**


End file.
